Harry Potter and Salazar’s Snake
by OblivionsPuppet
Summary: One ripple once started will spread and expand affecting every other ripple around it one single event can produce such a ripple. Read and see how one single ripple will alter the life of Harry Potter and the wizarding world, forever.


** _A/N Some of you might know my know my writing from the Jaded Series, I'm proud to report that the next chapter of that shall be released this weekend. I've no intention of abandoning my series, putting them on the back burner, or etc. Yet if other ideas come to me I intend to follow through with them. As for this story I shall briefly state a couple things, Yes Harry will date this year, explanations will come so please refrain from the "to young" argument. I'm also using this fic for experimenting with some new ideas. I shall appreciate any reviews, but they are not required. Beta's as always are definitely needed. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this new fic and if your also looking for a good read I might suggest another writer at this site by the name of Majestrix, any who R/R._**

**  
Harry Potter and Salazar's Snake**

**Chapter 1 House Elf's and Hugo's  
**

"Oh, I will," said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer..." Ignoring the disapproving glare forming on Hermione's face, Harry bid his friends one final farewell.

His relatives reactions to him as the drove away from King's Cross were almost comical, Dudley had nearly pushed the car door open in his attempt to get away from Harry. Aunt Petunia refused to even look at Harry almost trying to will him out of existence, and Vernon Dursley just gritted his teeth and drove.

Harry on the other hand was holding a small sheet of paper, it was his end of the year grades for that year, there was a small frown on his face as he contemplated the grades.

**_Transfiguration: _** **_Acceptable_**

_**Charms: Acceptable**_

**_History_**: **_Poor_**

_**Potions: Poor**_

_**Herbology: Acceptable**_

_**DADA : Acceptable**_

_**Astronomy: Acceptable**_

There wasn't anything really wrong with his marks, they were pretty average marks and Snape's outright distain for him could easily explain away the bad potions grade. Yet Harry still felt ashamed of himself, he hadn't really put much of an effort into studying and relied to heavily on Hermione to help him with his assignments.

Harry could distinctly remember times when he had to rush the morning before to hastily finish an assignment, he had always felt a bit of regret but it was very easy to get lost in the wonders of Hogwarts. Yet now that he was away from Hogwarts and here looking at his grades, Harry couldn't seem to conjure any excuses.

He had heard his teachers comment frequently on how brilliant his parents had been, his mum had been a real prodigy with Charms and his dad had been very talented at Transfiguration. Harry wondered if maybe their skills hadn't past to him.

Yet even in his own mind that sounded wrong, it wasn't like him to shy away from hardwork, and most of his life had been spent doing one task or another. He had simply gotten lost in the majesty of Hogwarts and he was now reaping the benefits of his lax work.

He could count on one hand the amount of spells he could do, and considering that he had just finished an entire year of magic school he didn't feel particularly thrilled with himself. With a sigh Harry rolled the paper up and stuck back into his pocket.

He couldn't change the past, but he promised himself that he wasn't going to take his magic for granted any longer. The Sorting Hat had once remarked about his thirst to prove himself, he decided he was going to start proving himself from now on.

The rest of the car ride was rather uneventful; Harry contemplated some of things he could try to improve upon and began bracing himself for the long summer under the thumb of his relatives. When they arrived at Privet Drive, Harry was a little amused to see the fact that it almost looked exactly as he remembered.

The same pristine prim proper neighborhood, Harry quickly retrieved his trunk and Hedwig's cage and started for his room. He was stopped by his Uncle at the bottom of the stairs, and Harry had a bad feeling as he watched his Uncle's mustache quiver with anger.

"Boy where do you think your going with all that crap?" Harry gestured toward his room.

"You think were going to let you run around with that stuff, it all goes in the cupboard!" Harry felt anger begin to creep through his system as he looked at his Uncle, he couldn't afford to be cut off from his stuff for two months and he wasn't about to give into his Uncle's threats.

"I need my things for school; I promise I'll keep them out of sight." His uncle flushed purple and let out a low simpering growl as he stalked toward Harry, with reflexes born at being the youngest Quidditch seeker in a century Harry drew his wand, Vernon froze at the sight of it.

"Stay away from me or so help me I'll kill you." His Uncle was frozen with fear as his eyes never left Harry's wand.

"Now get out of my way and leave me alone." Harry kept his wand trained on his Uncle as he cautiously climbed the stairs with his stuff. Once he was safely inside his room, and certain his Uncle was going to try and bash the door in he lowered the wand and sighed.

His hands were shaking, and it took a few minutes before his breathing began to return to normal. There was also another reason he was disgusted with himself for lack of effort, he had promised himself that he would learn to use magic to make sure his Uncle could never hurt him again and the only reason he was being beaten to a bloody pulp was because of his Uncle's irrational fear of magic in general.

Harry suddenly felt very drained; he wanted to simply curl up in his bed and sleep. Yet he forced himself to skim through his school books and find a locking charm. It took him a half-hour to find a very basic one; he took a couple of minutes to examine the proper technique and then decided to give it a go.

"**_Pikispy." _**To his surprise he heard a small click; maybe he wasn't as hopeless as he thought. With a yawn he stumbled over to his bed, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The first week of his imprisonment was rather hard for Harry; he started a rigorous studying schedule of which usually kept him busy four or five hours a night. He also started running a couple of miles a day, Harry knew he couldn't use his broom in such a densely populated area but he figured he still needed to stay in shape or he might loose his spot on the Quidditch House Team. 

He had taken to reviewing his text books and trying master more spells. He even found History surprisingly interesting when not delivered in the bored tone of Professor Binns. His relatives were doing their best to ignore Harry and had taken to feeding him meagerly as possible.

They didn't know that under a loose floorboard in Harry's room he had a wad of fifty and hundred pound notes; he had sent a letter requesting some funds from his Gringott's account. He was usually able to slip away and buy some food on his runs to ensure that he wouldn't starve to death.

He had yet to hear anything from his friends but he wasn't too worried, they were mostly like spending lots of time with their families and probably forgot about sending Harry a letter. He wouldn't begrudge them that, he was extremely busy to between his studying and work out sessions.

He was getting to sleep easier these days but he found his sleep schedule was becoming more and more erratic. There were just not enough hours in the days, he had wondered if there was maybe something magical he could do but so far he hadn't found anything.

He'd also been skimming through a Quidditch magazine given to him by Oliver wood his eccentric team captain; it was called **_Broomstick Monthly_** and was surprisingly a very good magazine. There were all kinds of interesting tips and the subscriptions in the back had allowed Harry to send away for a couple more different magazines.

Unfortunately his browsing was interrupted by the familiar bellowing of his uncle.

Harry put the magazine down and made sure he had his wand up his sleeve; he quietly shuffled downstairs and met his Uncle who seemed to be struggling to regain his composure in the presence of Harry. Finally he settled for staring directly at Dudley and then began.

"As you all know the Masons will be coming to dinner tonight, and were going to set some ground rules." Harry wondered when this had happened, but then again he hadn't exactly been on speaking terms with his relatives for a while now.

"The Masons are strict Catholics, and so I expect everyone to act accordingly in that regard as not to upset them." Harry did his best not to groan out loud, religious nuts were always the worst.

"Petunia I assume dinner will be ready by then?" She nodded sagely.

"Right, me and the boys will be going to get fitted for our new cloths, be back soon." Now this did cause Harry to become alarmed, his uncle had never used the term "the boys" to refer to him or his cousin. Something more along the lines of calling Harry the anti-Christ was more to his Uncles tastes.

"Clothes?" Harry did his best to emphasize the surprise he was feeling, his Uncle blanched as if he'd been slapped.

"Yes you're expected at dinner boy, and so help me if you do anything to embarrass us I'll make you regret ever coming here." This was impossible because Harry already did regret every coming here.

"Very well." His Uncle glared at Harry for another minute before turning around and silently heading for the car. Dudley was glaring at Harry as if this was his fault and Harry had to wonder for a second if this wasn't so punishment.

He pondered this as he strolled behind his cousin and slipped into the back of the car, the ride was uncomfortably silent and Harry wondered just how deep his Uncle's fear of him ran. He knew that his relatives despised magic in all forms; he had always assumed that their fears of him were simply based on ignorance and bigotry.

Might there be a deeper reason?

That train of thought was interrupted by the car suddenly lurching to a stop; Harry sent a glare toward his uncle as he rubbed his neck. His uncle quickly got out of the car, and Harry had no choice but to follow him toward the clothing store.

Dudley made a point of walking alongside his father and did his best to avoid standing to close towards Harry. Ignoring his cousins irrational fears, Harry began studying the different types of cloths, and was surprisingly unimpressed with the yuppie upscale look.

Soon he was summoned by a low growl from his Uncle, Harry slowly strolled over, he was glared at the entire stroll and Harry couldn't help but feel he might be pressing his luck. There was a severe looking squat woman whose face reminded Harry of a bull dog, beside her was a petite older girl with long brown hair and a kind heart shaped face.

"Mr. Dursley welcome to my humble store, I shall do my best help you find the proper suits to wear and ensure you are treated like a man of your stature should be." Vernon nodded gratefully but reluctantly let his eyes drift toward Harry.

"Could you have your assistant find something for this ungrateful whelp?" The bulldoggish woman turned to glare at Harry, and then nodded with distain evident on her features.

"Ruth should be able to find the boy something, if she gets her head out of the clouds for a few minutes." Ruth said nothing, but Harry could see she was clenched fists were completely white.

"Let us be off, I have these wonderful white suits which I think would be darling." Harry watched with relief as his relatives were lead away, and then waited as an awkward silence descended upon him and Ruth. As the seconds ticked by, Harry thought of a way to break the uneasiness.

"You know she bears a striking resemblance to a bulldog." A few surprise blinks was her only response, before a soft giggle slipped through her lips. She chuckled a few more times before letting her eyes begin to rake over Harry, it didn't take him long to begin to feel self-conscious and fidget a bit.

"I didn't mean to stare; I was just trying to think of what would look best on you." Harry nodded and did his best to stand still.

"I've got something that would go great with your eyes, give me one second please." Harry nodded and watched her stroll off; he had surprisingly mixed feelings as he watched her go. He felt a faint blush creep to up to his cheeks as he realized what he had just done, he firmly turned away and began examining some different types of hoody's that were on the rack.

Harry knew that he needed to buy some new cloths, but his schedule was allowing little time to do much of anything these days. He sighed and turned to find Ruth examining him with a critical eye, he said nothing but he met her gaze squarely.

"You really have beautiful eyes, and I think we should use that." Harry flushed with embarrassment, and simply nodded in response.

"Don't be embarrassed Harry, there's nothing wrong with wanting to look good or having others notice good physical qualities in you." Harry said nothing as he watched her deftly sort through a rack of expensive looking suits.

"Let us try this Pinstripe Mohair, I think it would go smashing with your eyes." The suit itself was a dark bluish color with a faint pinstripe design; Ruth also pulled a white shirt and a grey tie to go along with it. Harry followed her back into the dressing room.

"Right just get dressed and will see how you come out." Harry waited till he was sure she had left and quickly stepped out of Dudley's old hand me downs. He quietly put on the suit and was amazed at how soft the material felt against his skin, it was easily the most expensive piece of clothing he had ever worn.

He struggled with the tie for five minutes before uselessly strolling out looking flustered, Ruth quickly sized him up before fixing his tie with a non-sense attitude that Harry deeply appreciated. Soon she was carefully running her hands up and down the suit adjusting various things or just smoothing out the wrinkles that Harry had caused.

She smelled like oranges to Harry who was beginning to get dizzy with her sweet scent, finally she stepped back and examined Harry with a critical eye. He did his best not to fidget until finally he was rewarded with a brilliant smile.

"Not bad if I do say so myself, I think some Park Avenue oxfords would complete the look." Harry said nothing as he soon found himself in a set of expensive black oxfords. When Ruth let him examine himself in the mirror, Harry had to admit to being stunned.

He had gained a couple of inches that he must have missed, his shoulders were just the barest hint broader and the suit really did bring out his eyes. His usually unmanageable hair for once didn't seem to distract away from his cloths, but only serve to enhance his looks.

Overall he felt pretty damned good.

"In the future I might suggest you getting contacts, or looking into laser surgery it's such a shame to hide your eyes behind those old glasses." Harry had always considered surgery, but the Dursley's would have never paid for such a treatment.

_Then again he did have his own vault now….._

"I think I'll do that, thank you for everything Ruth." She waved his thanks off and they both headed off to find his relatives. What they came upon stopped Harry cold, his uncle and cousin were both encased in white suits that looked to be made from some expensive material, they had also been given a pair of dark oxfords and on anyone else the suits might have worked.

Of course on his whale of a cousin, and near obese uncle the suits made them look utterly stupid. The suits themselves seem be straining against their respective wearers body weight and Harry didn't even want to guess how long before those oxfords were flattened under the enormous pressure they were being subjected to. He kept these thoughts to himself as it was obvious that his relatives thought they looked great, his uncle kept complimenting the bulldoggish designer who had picked out his suits.

"This will do just fine madam, Petunia will be so impressed." Harry's experiences with his aunts own lack of fashion sense could only cause him to silently agree with his uncle.

"Will this suffice Mr. Dursley?" Ruth's voice caused his uncle to actually flinch; he turned to rake Harry over with his angry gaze. It was obvious to Harry that his uncle didn't think much of his new appearance.

"It'll do, I suppose the whelp can only be prettied up so much." Harry said nothing as he noticed Ruth's body tense.

"Shall I ring up the suits Mr. Dursley?" Vernon nodded and soon went back to admiring himself in the mirror.

* * *

The car ride back to Privet Drive after that was surprisingly silent, his uncle had paid the enormous cost of the suits with surprising haste, and then they set off back to Privet Drive with their suits nicely boxed up. Aside from the occasional glares at Harry, his uncle up to this point had little to say. 

To bad Harry mused that such things wouldn't be permanent.

"Now listen here boy, the Masons are a highly respectable Catholic family and I shall not have you scaring them off with your "unnaturalness" so if they even get the barest hint of what you really are I promise nothing will keep me from strangling you to within an inch of your life, got me?" Harry nodded.

"Speak up boy." His uncle's voice was tense and Harry had the feeling that he was closing to a full blown rant soon enough.

"Fine, I promise to act "normal" but if you ever touch me again I promise to hex you into next year." An eerie silence descended upon the car, and Dudley piggish eyes gleamed with what he saw as a prime chance for his father to start screaming at Harry.

"So be it boy." His uncle said after a few seconds, Harry wondered if that was an acknowledgement of his threat or a promise of trouble in the future. He decided to simply remain vigilant and to keep his wand handy at all times, even during the dinner with the Masons.

Once they had returned to Privet Drive, Harry spent the afternoon in his room studying **_Hexed_** a dueling magazine that he got a subscription for from the back of the Quidditch magazine that Oliver had sent him. He was reading an interesting article on the application of transfiguring projectiles in a duel when his aunt screamed from him to get dressed.

Harry begrudgingly took a quick hot shower, and set about getting dressed in the most expensive piece of clothing he had ever owned. The shoes itself probably cost more then his entire wardrobe, and Harry was a bit surprised that his uncle would be willing to spend so much on him, this deal with the Masons must be very important.

With his wand firmly hidden within his pants, Harry went down to be inspected by his aunt and uncle. Both of them regarded him with a look of pure distain, his aunt's muddy brown eyes searched him over looking for an obvious mistake to point out, which she found none she settled for sniffing distantly at him.

"I suppose its better then nothing, but you best be on your best behavior boy or I promise no food for the rest of the summer." Harry regarded his horse faced aunt with a stoic silence before nodding brusquely. Another disdainful sniff and she returned to complimenting her ickle Dudlykins on what a strong man he was becoming.

Harry thought Dudley was becoming more and more like a killer whale but he wisely kept this thought to himself.

Soon the doorbell rang and everyone stood up straight, with a final warning glare at Harry, Vernon strolled up and opened the door to reveal the Masons. Mr. Mason was a tall thin fellow whose was dressed in a very expensive looking Italian suit, he had sharp pointed features and his balding head was easily revealed by the comb over on top. Mrs. Mason was about the same height and was also surprisingly thin, she was dressed in an elegant flower summer dress that hanged down to her ankles, and her facial features were also surprisingly pointed, much like Mr. Mason's.

"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Mason it's such an honor to welcome you to my home, I hope your trip went well?" Mr. Mason sniffed his head with disgust as he stepped inside.

"This country is going to hell in a hand basket you mark my words, nigers, spics, and those other deviants are dragging this country down." Harry felt his blood begin to boil a little, he hated such blatant ignorance as racism and he had a feeling that his nerves were going to be frayed before the nights end.

"I couldn't agree with you more, were lucky that our neighborhood has avoided most of that riff-raff." Mr. Mason nodded in agreement as they walked in where Harry and his relatives were waiting.

"I admire that a man, most are to bleeding heart these days to see what's going on in this country." While nodding in grave agreement, his uncle moved to stand in front of his "family" and well Harry was there to.

"I'd like to introduce you to my wife Petunia, my son Dudley, and err... the cousin I told you about." Harry found himself on what he guessed might have been an attempt at an intimidating glare, Harry who had stared directly into the scarlet demonic eyes of Lord Voldemort himself, was frankly unimpressed.

"Welcome Mr. Mason it's an honor to meet you." Judging from the livid expression that appeared on his uncle's face, Harry guessed he had made some sort of mistake.

"Speak only when you're spoken to boy." Snapped Mr. Mason in an angry tone, Harry had to bite down a retort.

"I see what you mean about the boy's lack of respect Vernon; you must be commended for sticking with him for so long." Harry silently fumed, but decided to keep any further comments to himself. He had a feeling that his relatives were going to get along great with the Masons, provided they didn't find about Harry's little secret.

Seeming to think he had put Harry into his proper place, Mr. Mason had only praise to shower on Dudley and Harry's aunt. After the line about a "wholesome Catholic family" Harry idly wondered why he had even allowed himself to be subjected to this.

"Perhaps you would like to move into the dining room, Petunia has worked especially hard on this meal in honor of your visit." With a polite nod, Harry found himself being shuffled into the dining room where he was seated beside his cousin, and a quiet but severe looking Mrs. Mason.

"Since you're the guest Mr. Mason would you do us the honor of saying grace?" Mr. Mason gravely nodded and everyone besides Harry bowed their heads. Harry stubbornly set his jaw and remained defiant, his relationship with any type of god was not a good one.

"Oh heavenly father we thank you for this meal and we ask you bless as we take this our daily bread, and father we ask that you please forgive the ignorant who don't pay proper homage to you and we pray that you will one day show them the error of their ways less they be condemned to forever eternal damnation, ah men." An awkward silence descended over the table as Mr. Mason glared at Harry; obviously the line at "eternal damnation" was directed at him.

"Boy I will not tolerate such utter disrespect of our lord, as punishment your to serve the food and then go to your room to think about your sins." Harry found this idea wonderful, but it sort miffed him that he had gone to all the trouble of getting this suit for nothing.

Without further encouragement Harry slipped out of his chair and headed into the kitchen, he drew his wand with surprising speed as he was greeted by the oddest looking creature he had ever seen. The little creature had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls.

"Harry Potter sir, it's such an honor… such an honor for Dobby to meet you finally Harry Potter!" His high pitched voice echoed throughout the entire kitchen, and Harry knew that anymore of that and his uncle was going to coming barreling in to investigate.

"**_Silencio_**." The creature suddenly realized what Harry had done and shrunk back in terror, Harry was less sympathetic then he imagine he might have been and strode forward to come within a few inches of the creature.

"I don't know who or what you are, but if you don't stop being so bloody loud your going to get me into a world of trouble, understand?" Dobby's bulging green eyes signaled an agreement, and Harry quickly left Dobby in the kitchen as he brought the steaks his aunt had prepared, ignoring the pointed glare from his uncle he quickly stepped back inside the kitchen.

"**_Finite Incantatem." _**Dobby blinked for a few seconds before straightening up.

"Dobby so so sorry sir, he didn't mean to get Harry Potter into trouble sir." With that Dobby summarily began beating his head against the wall, Harry was swift to react.

"**_Petrificus Totalus_**." Dobby stopped rigidly and surprising stood upright, not moving an inch. Harry waited anxiously for his uncle to come, but luckily he was spared yet again.

"Are you a complete and utter dunce, stop making noise you git or I'll hex you so bad that you be feeling it next week." Surprised by his own sharp temper, Harry quickly released a more subdued Dobby from the full body bind.

"Now what are you, and what the bloody hell do you want?" Dobby shrunk back from Harry's angry tone, and answered him meekly.

"My name is Dobby sir; I a house-elf and I've come to give the great Harry Potter a warning." Harry felt uncharacteristically angry with the obviously demented creature; but he did his best to appear less threatening and motioned for Dobby to continue.

"Harry Potter sir can't go back to Hogwarts, there is a terrible plot at Hogwarts sir, many will die and Harry Potter can't be at risk!" Harry felt a headache beginning in the back of his mind as he ignored Dobby's exclamations about how the "great" and "noble" Harry Potter couldn't be a risk.

"Could you perhaps supply some details of this evil plot?" This caused Dobby to stop, he frantically began shaking his head and looking really uncomfortable.

"Please Harry Potter, Dobby can't tell you… my oaths won't permit it… please Harry Potter sir don't go back to Hogwarts!" Harry groaned as he watched Dobby's bulging green eyes begin to grow teary.

"Fine... fine you don't have to tell me who is behind this evil plot but I'm going back to Hogwarts." Dobby shrieked and threw himself at Harry's legs.

"Harry Potter can't, he is good and noble but he can't be at risk!" Harry kicked the creature off his legs.

"Look, there is no way that I'm spending another year in this hell hole, besides I need to warn my friends if there in danger." Dobby shook his head frantically.

"Harry Potter is good and noble to consider his friends, but he is to important to risk himself for friends who won't even mail him!" Harry's brow furrowed from a second.

"Just how do you know that my friends haven't been mailing me?" Dobby suddenly looked like he wanted to bash his skull against the wall, he shifted nervously refusing to meet Harry's gaze.

"Harry Potter mustn't get angry with Dobby." Harry felt his ire slowly begin to rise as he watched Dobby pull out a thick packet of letters from his tattered cloak, he immediately recognized Hermione's meticulous small scrawl and Ron's untidy scratching.

"You've been stopping my letters, why I out to hex you into next year." Harry jabbed violently at the packet of letters and summoned them directly into his hand. Dobby squeaked and backed up away from a furious Harry.

"Harry Potter must listen to Dobby, If Harry Potter won't promise to stay home, and Dobby will have to make Harry Potter." Harry saw as Dobby flicked his hands sending plates and silverware crashing around the room.

"**_Silencio Maximus." _** Harry said desperately hoping that silencing ward he had read about would work, he could the plates crashing but he was concentrating on trying to stop Dobby who was running around the kitchen causing general havoc.

"**_Glacius, Glacius, Glacius." _**Harry kept firing the freezing spells but Dobby was to nimble enough to avoid them, sections of the kitchen were beginning to turn into ice and Harry knew that he didn't have long before his relatives heard all this bloody noise.

"**_Glacius." _**Harry targeted the floor in front of Dobby and was rewarded at seeing the house-elf going sliding directly into the wall.

"**_Petrificus Totalus." _**Harry literately growled the spell, and Dobby immediately froze unable to move. There was an unmistakable fear in his bulging green eyes as Harry stalked over towards him.

"Get out of here now, or so help me I'll hex your limbs off." Without further ado Dobby vanished with a soft pop. Harry's blood was boiling as he contemplated the damage to the kitchen, there were spots of ice all over the walls and most of the plates, glasses, and silverware were scattered throughout the floor.

Harry began quickly casting repair spells, and levitating everything back to its proper place. He spent the next few minutes in fear that his uncle would come in, but his luck seemed to be holding steady. He used a couple **_Incendio_** spells to melt the ice.

Using magic it only took a few minutes for Harry to clean up the mess that was made; he took a moment to ensure that the kitchen was fixed before he slipped his wand back into his pocket, and brought a cake that his aunt had prepared into the dining room.

"It's about time boy; I called for you five minutes ago!" Harry ignored his uncle's threats as he set the cake down on the table and headed for his room, he was surprised when he felt a vice like hand shoot out trapping his arm.

"You boy should show proper respect to your elders." Mr. Mason was glaring fiercely, but Harry's chilly emerald gaze froze him straight on the spot.

"Get your hand off me." His tone was slow and icy, Mr. Mason gruffly let go of Harry and did his best not o show his intimation. Harry stalked up towards his room, he knew that his uncle was going to have some choice words for him later but Harry didn't really give a damn.

He was tired, all that frantic spell casting had really taken a lot out of him much to his disgust, Harry cast a quick locking charm on his door and then slipped into his bed.

* * *

_I must have been more tired then I thought._

Harry tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes as rays from an afternoon sun filtered in through his window, he looked down to find himself still wearing the suit from last night's dinner party. Harry felt a bit ashamed at getting the suit so wrinkled, he quickly slipped into some of Dudley's cut offs, and put the newly neatly folded suit into his trunk.

Harry took one look in the mirror and decided that today was the perfect time for him to head back into London, and purchase some new clothes. Resolving himself to this course of action, Harry quickly retrieved all his money from the loose floorboard, and his wand.

He sneaked down the hall and out the front door so he wouldn't have to deal with his uncle's rant about his behavior last night. Harry hoped that maybe since the dinner seemed to have went off without a hitch that he might be spared, but looking back at past situations like this didn't make Harry anymore hopeful.

Yelling at Harry was as close as Vernon Dursley came to therapy.

Happy that he had managed to forestall any out confrontation with his relatives, Harry strolled down the sidewalk intent on finding a payphone to order a cab. He figured he had more then enough money to pay for the ride, and it was the quickest way that he could reach London.

Walking down the street, Harry began to hear faint traces of sirens in the distance, and they seemed to be growing closer with each second. He was soon able to distinguish that they were police sirens, and Harry wondered idly what they were doing in this part of town.

Privet Drive was an upscale suburban neighborhood, and there was little crime here. Harry strolled down the sidewalk and came to a stop in front of a corner brick building. Off in the distance he could see flashing lights, as they grew steadily closer it was easier for Harry to see what was going on.

It appeared that two cop cars were in pursuit of another car that Harry thought might have been a Hugo, the cops seemed to be steadily gaining on the car, and Harry watched the chase with fascination. The sirens began to grow louder, Harry saw the Hugo beginning to slow down, judging by the rust colored paint job and the whining engine Harry guessed the car was finally starting to break down.

It came to Harry in a few seconds the potential danger he might be in, the Hugo was rolling to a stop only a few feet from him and the cops would be on top of it in a few more seconds. Harry began strolling back into the opposite direction, but it was a fruitless effort.

A loud screech of rubber on pavement and the Hugo whipped to a stop directly in front of Harry, a figure dressed in a black cameo pants, a dark grey shirt, and a ski mask jumped from the car. In his hands was an unmistakableAK-47, even Harry had seen a couple Hollywood films in his day and could tell what gun it was.

Yet this didn't look like a prop, Harry tried to turn but froze at what he saw. Four different policemen had their guns drawn and aimed directly at the AK-47 wielding felon. Yet Harry was in their direct line of fire, and one of the cop's hands was shaking.

It was almost like slow motion.

Harry heard the first shot ring out, he felt a punch directly into his chest, and he heard five more shots and Harry jerked with each punch as the bullets tore through his body. One through his shoulder, another through his leg, and four shots directly through his chest and stomach, Harry was numb for a few seconds as the world seemed to stop spinning.

He felt his legs buckle underneath him, he saw the realization beginning to dawn on the officers eyes, and Harry felt fire erupting inside his body. It spread throughout his body, he tried to scream, to make the world know his pain but his body wouldn't respond. All Harry could do was move his jaw uselessly, it all had happened in the space of a few seconds, but to Harry those few seconds seemed like an eternity.

Yet the pain was beginning to subside, Harry saw the policemen screaming into something that he guessed was a radio but for some odd reason he couldn't hear them. A cold numbness had spread through Harry's body, dousing the painful flames and providing an odd sort of comfort.

_I'm dying_

He was surprisingly calm for such a thought, he knew that his body was fading fast and he didn't have much time left. The single most dominate emotion he felt was regret, he felt regret for all the things he would never get to do, kiss a girl, learn more about magic, perhaps even eventually get shagged.

_Maybe there is some fringe benefit to dying a virgin?_

Yet his thoughts were becoming cloudy, as the list of regrets swirled around in his mind. Harry hoped that Voldemort would stay gone; he didn't like the thought of Ron and Hermione having to deal with him lone. With his final thoughts getting hazier, Harry surrendered himself to his eternal rest.

* * *

_This was a lot of white to deal with for an eternity._

It was a random thought, Harry idly wondered if this was heaven, and if it was heaven he winced.

_Why must the lights be so bloody bright?_

A soft groan escaped his lips, Harry was aware of the pain that was pulsing throughout his body. It was like a dull background noise, but it had a constant rhythm. He let out a few curses, then tried once again to open his eyes and was rewarded with a majestic, wonderful, breathtaking, roof of white tile.

_Either Heaven's designer needs a good kicking, or I'm not dead._

It was a confusing thought for Harry, people who normally get shot a couple of times don't come back to tell the tale, and people who get no less then six times shouldn't be contemplating white roof tile.

_It just wasn't natural._

Harry shook his head, he guessed that was in a hospital somewhere, and judging from the blinding white lights, white roof tile, and sterile sense he kept getting from the room, he was right. Taking a deep breath, Harry looked down at his body expecting the worse.

_Well I'll be bloody well damned._

He had been stripped down to his boxers, his chest was completely wrapped with long white bandages, and his leg was completely healed aside from a rather large nasty purplish bruise. The same story for his arm, a really nasty bruise but no hole.

_Magic rules!_

With a rather silly grin plastered on his face, Harry tried to sit up further and was quickly cursing as he struggled to regain his breathing.

"Language young man and I advise that you don't move you're still very bruised." Harry watched as an older woman with soft brown hairs, a kind but plain face, dressed in lime green robes stepped into his room.

"Where am I?" Harry cursed himself for sounding like an idiot, but the woman only smiled.

"St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries." Harry blinked, he shouldn't be surprised that he was in a magical hospital; he doubted muggles could have saved him but then again what did magical people know about gun shot wounds.

"Did the doctors get the bullets out?" The healer's face contorted in a grimace, and she began waving her wand over Harry muttering spells.

"Our _healers _have some experience with gunshot wounds, you're very lucky that we got you here in time Mr. Potter." Harry took a few seconds to think about that, how did they know he had been shot? Was someone monitoring him over the summer, and if someone was then who was it?

"Well I'm proud to report that you appear to be healing nicely, and there won't be any long term physical damage." Harry let out a sign of relief; the thought of permanent disabled was a deep fear of his.

"So does this mean I can leave?" The nurse blinked, and shook her head fiercely.

"You sustained very grievous injuries, and it's my professional opinion that you remain here at least three more weeks so that we can ensure no side-effect pop up." Harry let the thought of spending the next three weeks of his summer vacation in this hospital bed, it wasn't a pleasant notion.

"No way, I mean how long have I been in here?" The nurse frowned.

"A little over a week Mr. Potter, I must really insist that you stay here and I firmly believe that Professor Dumbledore will agree with me." Harry inwardly grimaced.

"Professor Dumbledore is here?" The nurse shook her head.

"He has been notified of your condition, and shall be here within the hour." Harry mentally cursed the last thing person he wanted to see right now as Professor Dumbledore.

"Err… did my things survive?" The nurse indicated a small drawer beside Harry.

"There is also a set of new muggle clothes in there." Harry didn't want to see how bad Dudley's cast offs had to be now, hopefully they had been taken somewhere and incinerated.

"I've got more rounds to make, the professor should be along shortly." Harry nodded deep in thought, and the nurse just shook her head and left.

_I almost died_

The realization of what had just happened to Harry was finally beginning to settle in; his life had almost been snuffed out. No more magic, no more chances to see Hermione or Ron again, he could never play Quidditch again. Harry slowly began to shake.

It was almost another five minutes before began to stop trembling; by a very small thread he had avoided dying and all for what? Because some wanker of a cop couldn't shoot straight? Because some punk had stolen a damn Hugo? It all seemed so surreal, and what had Harry done during all this?

_Sat there like a damn post._

Shame began to burn in Harry, he as much contributed to his own injuries as they cops did. He had just stood there, and allowed himself to be shot. Cursing his own foolishness, he once again tried to sit up and gritted his teeth as pain lanced through his body.

_My own ruddy fault._

Doing his best to ignore the pain, Harry quickly dressed in the pair of faded blue jeans, white t-shirt-, and grey hoody that he had been provided by the nurse. Harry also found all of his money in the desk beside his bed, and his wand to. Even with his bruises, Harry was feeling much better now that he was fully clothed and had his wand back.

He began to contemplate in earnest what he was going to say to Professor Dumbledore, what exactly was there to say? He had been heading into London and due to some truly horrid luck had been caught in the crossfire. Granted it had been more of a jumpy policeman then anything, but Harry doubted that he was going to be prosecuted.

The magical authorizes had no jurisdiction over muggles, and by now there memories were sure to have been modified. So what reason could Dumbledore have for visiting him? Harry sighed; he might as well ask the question that had been on his mind since the end of last year.

_Why did Voldemort go after him as a baby?_

He didn't know, but Harry was determined to find out.

* * *

_Post Edit- __It has come to my attention that some of you are wondering how Harry seems to be using magic, and not getting in trouble. I would like to congratulate the keen observations of those reviewers, and assure everyone that this isn't just a random mistake. Yes, this is author is probably insane, but the exact reason why Harry is allowed to use magic shall be revealed in the next chapter, anyway I hope you enjoyed it._

_P.P.Edit- __One reviewer commented on the rather harsh portrayal of Catholics in this story, it's quite safe to say that I shall be equably offensive to other groups in the future. This isn't a reflection of those groups, but we all know that every organization has a fringe element. So if someone does truly take offense at anything written in here, then I'm sorry but trust me when I say it's not personal. _


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